Technical high school opening in Fort Lauderdale

June 27, 2014|By Scott Fishman, Forum Publishing Group

When the new school year begins in August, Sheridan Technical High School in Fort Lauderdale will welcome students for the first time.

The school will open at the former site of Sunset Learning Center, which closed last year due to low enrollment. The school district decided to repurpose the facility, which will welcome 150 ninth-graders for its first year.

Lynn Goldman, Broward Technical Centers' community relations coordinator, said the 30 classrooms were upgraded with new furniture and Wi-Fi. Students will work off tablet computers with textbooks uploaded to them.

"It's truly a state-of-the-art facility," she said. "It is just drop-dead gorgeous inside with all kinds of technology in every single classroom."

Students will be taking traditional academics at the honors and advanced placement level, as well as participate in one of 20 technology programs offered at the school. They will not only graduate with a diploma, but also an industry certification. Tracks include surgical lab technician, legal administration assistance, culinary, automotive, computer programming and a variety of medical disciplines.

Freshman and sophomore students will take online classes. Each semester, one of their four courses will have them entering a computer lab and working with a facilitator. The main teacher will be off-site, which Goldman said will help prepare students for college.

"When they go on, they are going to experience an online environment," she said. "This way, they have the support system and can get used to it."

The school will grow to 600 when other grade levels are added in coming years. Goldman said many people still have an outdated perception of technical schools.

"They think it's for the kids who are not going to college," she said. "We have kids at Harvard. I mean, these kids are doing unbelievable things. They are just very, very focused. They know they want to go into the medical field, so they can go into the nursing program. They know they want to be an engineer, so they are in the drafting program. This is a modern high school, and these kids are smart enough to take advantage of this free education."